Commentary by Judie Brown
As many in mainstream media continue to spin their tale of woe hysterically exaggerating what the South Dakota abortion ban will actually accomplish if the citizens of that state uphold it in Tuesday’s election, one is left wondering: What ever happened to logical discussion? I have seen many journalists assuring the average American that the people of South Dakota are not stupid enough to uphold a law that protects all the state’s preborn citizens from medical and surgical abortion. The strange machinations that some are undertaking in their eleventh hour scramble present further evidence that fact is stranger than fiction.
Many of us have become accustomed to the spin zones. We recognize their existence on both the liberal and the quasi-conservative talking head shows. We’ve heard the partisan claptrap from the Republican tent that no abortion law can ever be supported unless it contains exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. We understand that it is often difficult, even for a Harvard graduate, to comprehend the simple biology that is the foundation for well thought out language such as that contained in the South Dakota abortion ban.
In fact, amid the myriad commentaries, interviews, news reports and television clips it seems that words become more important than substance. Or maybe it’s that the ratings are more important than reality. Or, to put it bluntly, it could be that the media in collaboration with political hacks and professional abortion advocates will say whatever it takes to stop the people of South Dakota and America from hearing the truth. It’s all one enormous dramatic production.
So with but a few days to go before Americans go to the polls, it might be a good idea to get back to basics.
South Dakota passed a law, which Governor Mike Rounds signed. This law, the Women’s Health and Human Protection Act, makes it clear that the people of South Dakota do not want legal protection bestowed on acts of abortion in their state. In fact, when the primary was held earlier this year, every single state legislator who voted for the law was renominated for another term.
During their deliberations on the law, South Dakota’s lawmakers studied the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion Report. The report exposed the sordid underbelly of the abortion industry and focused a great deal of attention on the inhumane suffering experienced by those mothers who surrender their babies to abortion without considering who their babies really are or what precisely they are doing.
Oh yes, it’s true. Many mothers are coerced into the dreadful decision that members of the abortion cartel blithely describe as a choice. Other mothers are intimidated by threats of violence or frightened by the idea that one day they may be abandoned if they don’t go ahead and “terminate the pregnancy.” And some are convinced that the love of the child’s father is more important than the life the baby. Sad but true; aborting a child has grave consequences for the parents. And this is precisely what the legislators in South Dakota studied.
The legislature heard this evidence; they met the women including those victims of rape who chose life for their babies ? and those who did not. They heard from rape victims who told them that a second rape was more tolerable in their mind than abortion. In fact Geri Riggs of Sturgis, South Dakota just published her story. Raped not once, but twice, Geri writes:
TRUTH: Being a victim of rape did not exempt me from the devastation of abortion. It added to it.
If I could do one thing over again in my life, it would be to go back and save my child’s life! There is “no excuse” to ever take an innocent life. As one woman asked, “Does a child conceived in rape look any different in ultrasound than a child that is conceived during consensual sex?” How can we say that the innocent have to die for their fathers’ sins?
After due consideration, South Dakota’s lawmakers approved the abortion ban, Governor Rounds signed it into law, and immediately the abortion lobby raised more hackles than an entire barnyard full of chickens. At this very moment millions of death dollars are pouring into South Dakota in efforts, not by the citizens of the state but by outsiders, to convince voters that abortion is a good, not an evil act.
The Rapid City Journal reports that while the pro-life organization, Vote Yes for Life, has reported receiving financial support from churches, including one Catholic parish in Oklahoma, not to mention many generous Americans who truly care, the opposition’s deceptively named Campaign for Healthy Families reported funding from Planned Parenthood, NARAL, an heir to the Merck pharmaceutical fortune and others of the same ilk.
What does that little piece of information tell you? It tells me that while goodhearted Americans who love their families, their babies and their fellow preborn brothers and sisters will contribute to get the pro-life job done, those who despise anything remotely resembling wholesome family values have plenty of sources for bucks ? but not the human bodies it takes to get out the vote.
Lie all they want; deceive until the cows come home; those who favor death just don’t understand that Americans who love life act on that belief. And that is what is happening right now in South Dakota, with mere days remaining until we learn precisely who has the greater influence in the heartland. Will it be the carpetbaggers with their abortion tricks or will it be good-hearted men and women who comprehend the dignity of the human person?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but I am blessed to be the president of a pro-life organization that has sent staff members to South Dakota to help teach and spread the truth while emphasizing the gravity of this situation. And there’s one thing I know for sure. When the last vote is counted, regardless of the outcome, not a one of those pro-lifers in South Dakota or on the American Life League team will lose heart.
There is nothing more gratifying in the entire world than reflecting on the face of a newborn baby and recalling that every child is more precious than all the money, headlines, sound bites and arrogance in the world. Onward and upward we will go. Being grounded in faith protects us from the eleventh hour jitters; it beckons us to quietly and persistently pray and work trusting God that all things will work for the outcome He has assigned to this moment in history.
Release issued: 3 Nov 06
